Biography &Qualifications

Fergus Lyon is a Professor of Enterprise and Organisations in the Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research, Middlesex University in London and Deputy Director of the ESRC Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity. His research interests include social and sustainable enterprises, provision of public services by social enterprises, clustering and networks of enterprises, ethnic minority enterprise, and enterprise support policy. Recent funders include the Economic and Social Research Council, Cabinet Office, Dept of Business Innovation Skills, Innovate UK, International Labour Organisation, and a number of charities. In 2007 he was seconded to the Prime Ministers' Strategy Unit (Health team) in the Cabinet Office. He was the social enterprise lead on the £10m Third Sector Research Centre funded over five years by ESRC and Office for Civil Society. Previously he has carried out research in Ghana, Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Nepal. He is also a founder and director of a social enterprise preschool. Fergus has over 130 publications including 40 substantial reports for policy makers funded by UK and international donors, 25 papers in established international journals, 23 book chapters, a number of shorter policy briefings and two books on social research methodologies.

Qualifications:

PhD at Department of Geography, University of Durham, UK. Research on Trade systems, partnerships and rural development in Ghana

MSc at School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia - Agriculture, Environment and Development (Distinction)

BA Hons Geography (2 i), University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Languages Spoken

Learning &Teaching Interests

Research supervision

Maria Irurita (Director of Studies), Innovation and Learning in social enterprises

Abdullah Al-Faruq, Social enterprises in Bangladesh

Anthony Ayakwah, Internationalisation and SME clusters in Ghana

Isaac Amoako (Completed - Director of Studies), SME Exporting Determinants: The Power of Institutions on Networking and Performance in a developing country

Bianca Stumbitz (Completed - Director of Studies), Older Social Entrepreneurs and the life course

Chapters in edited volumes:

Lyon, F, Sepulveda, L, Vickers, I, McMullin, C and Gregory, D (2013) Process of social innovation in mutual organisations: The case of social enterprises leaving the public sector Social Frontiers: The next edge of social innovation research. http://www.nesta.org.uk/event/social-frontiers London: Nesta

Chew, C and Lyon, F (2013) Social enterprise and innovation in third sector organizations in Osborne, S and Browne, L , in Handbook of Innovation and Change in Public Sector Services. Edward Elgar

Lyon, F. and Sepulveda, L. (2013) Social Enterprise Support Policies: distinctions and challenges, In Robert Blackburn and Michael Schaper (Eds) Government, SMEs and Entrepreneurship Development: Policy, Practice and Challenges.

Lyon, F (2012) Social innovation, co-operation and competition: inter-organizational relations for social enterprises in the delivery of public services. In Nicholls, A and Murdock, A, Social Innovation: Blurring Boundaries to Reconfigure Markets, Palgrave MacMillan

Haugh, Helen and Lyon, Fergus and Doherty, Bob (2018) Social entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship and social value creation. In: The SAGE Handbook of Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Backburn, Robert and De Clercq, Dick and Heinonen, Jarna , eds. SAGE, pp. 125-142. ISBN 9781473925236

Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Holy Cross Center Trust looking at alternative social enterprise models for delivering health and social care public services.

Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Social Enterprise East Midlands, to support Social Enterprise and the Low Carbon Economy in the East Midlands;

KTP with London Early Years Foundation, looking at social enterprise models for early years provision

KTP with The Guild, to develop enterprise support infrastructure and social impact measurement for social enterprises.

Presentations to social enterprises at various events

Advisory Board of WENTA Enterprise Agency (2012- present)

Co-founder and director of a childcare social enterprise (2004 -present)

Director of a small diversified farming business (1993 - present)

Films, podcasts and webinars:

Webinar - The demand for social investment and loan finance UnLtd's 2014 Webinar Series for Social Entrepreneurs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHGesi4Fkjs&index=11&list=PLQZ9ucOSQNXvxrkl10eOowAHIo4IDo7gq

Supporting social enterprises through research: the Middlesex contribution.Published on Feb 27, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA4RknOeNV4